Mail marketer Advo awarded management of its list of 116 million U.S. resident addresses to Mal Dunn Associates earlier this month so it can increase its revenue stream and bring better enhancements to mailers.
Advo, Windsor, CT, previously managed the compiled file in house, but with the needs of today's mailers changing so rapidly the company decided to outsource the file rather than develop the core competencies required to add enhancements and develop new list products.
“The closer you are to what the mailer needs the more likely you will be able to tailor a product to fit those needs,” said Dan Sherr, vice president of targeted marketing services at Advo. “With Mal Dunn, we are getting much closer to the market, a market that is changing very quickly. The speed of response is very important.”
Advo delivers shared advertising mail to 60 million households a week in 120 markets through its MailBox Values program and reaches an additional 20 million households through the Advo National Network Extension. Its proprietary resident list covers 98 percent of U.S. households but doesn't include names.
For Mal Dunn, Advo represents its first foray into compiled files. MDA senior vice president Joanne Dunn said that although this type of file is a departure for the company, it will apply the same product development strategies to Advo as it would for a large response file. The file's lack of names will force MDA to target usage to saturation mailers, such as packaged goods companies, and to list brokers that haven't used Advo.
The file's coverage and high deliverability by ZIP code — Advo receives regular address updates from the U.S. Postal Service and is its largest private customer — should appeal to companies seeking to build retail traffic in localized areas. The file is available for $12.50 per thousand addresses.
Low list rental rates haven't undermined Advo shared mail programs in the past, and Sherr expects the two mailing sources will continue to complement one another. He said some clients who wish to mail twice a week send a shared mail offer and use the Advo list to send a second solo mailing. Others use the list to delete the addresses of current customers for prospecting campaigns or to mail to areas not covered by Advo.
“The rental of our list only supplements shared mail and helps us provide better overall service,” Sherr said.
